What would get more people walking? This activity shows tons of health benefits. And today, one person in three over 85 develops Alzheimer鈥檚 disease or some other dementia.
That statistic should get everyone out of his or her chair and walking, because a report from Tufts University in Boston shows that the most active people have the largest volume of grey matter in parts of the brain typically affected by Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
Dr. Tammy Scott, at Tufts鈥� Neuroscience and Aging Laboratory, says physical activity has consistently shown to be beneficial to brain health, and there is increasing evidence that regular exercise lowers the risk of dementia.
In the journal Neurology, researchers report what happened to 876 people enrolled in the northern Manhattan study. They were asked how long and how often they had exercised in the previous two weeks.
It is amazing that 90 per cent reported no exercise at all, or only light exercise, such as walking or yoga. The remaining 10 per cent reported moderate- to high-intensity exercise such as running or aerobics.
Seven years later, participants were subjected to tests of memory and thinking skills, along with an MRI of the brain. Then, five years later, they were again given thinking and memory tests.
In the group showing no initial signs of memory or thinking problems, the low-activity group showed a great decline in simple task performance and how many words they could remember from a list. 聽
But researchers found that the more active group had slowed the aging process by as much as 10 years. Moreover, this disparity remained after taking into consideration other factors that could affect brain health, such as alcohol consumption, smoking, high blood pressure and body mass index.
The Journal of Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease reports further evidence that burning up calories helps to protect grey matter in the brain. In this study, 900 people, all at least 65, had an MRI evaluation of their brains. In addition, they answered questions about how many calories they expended each week while walking, jogging, cycling, gardening and dancing. They were also given a quiz to evaluate their memory.
Five years later, 25 per cent of the most active group showed significantly more grey matter. Moreover, this grey matter was in parts of the brain associated with memory and high-level thinking.
We have known for a long time that exercise is important for bones and cardiovascular health. Now we can add that it鈥檚 also vital for a healthy brain. Moreover, studies show that you don鈥檛 have to beat the four-minute mile to remain on this planet longer. Rather than working up a sweat, frequent walking is a prime way of keeping healthy.
Studies linking exercise to brain health remind me of Dr. Paul Dudley White, the renowned professor of cardiology at Harvard Medical School. He was asked to treat former U.S. president Dwight Eisenhower, who had suffered a heart attack.
White believed in the health benefits of exercise and was noted for riding his bicycle to work every day. It鈥檚 not surprising that he remarked: 鈥淚f you want to know how flabby your brain is, just feel your leg muscles.鈥� Today, Boston鈥檚 27-kilometre bicycle path is named after White, who advised that we should all walk more, eat less and sleep more.
So what鈥檚 the best advice to protect yourself from a flabby brain? I鈥檇 suggest buying a pedometer, a small device that fits on your waist and counts the number of steps you walk every day. The number of steps needed depends on your age and health.聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽
Most authorities agree that 10,000 steps a day is a healthy number to aim for. That means walking eight kilometres. But studies show that most people take between 3,000 and 5,000 steps daily. So a pedometer is a great motivator to get moving and has greater psychological impact than counting kilometres.
Abraham Lincoln was right when he said: 鈥淚 have the best two doctors, my left leg and my right.鈥� We should all use them more, so we have more grey matter and less flab in our brains.聽
